Jobs in Geothermal and Jobs in LEED. The network now consists of six green job sites including Jobs in Solar Power, Jobs in Wind Power, Jobs in Biofuels and Jobs in Sustainability.
“Rather than focusing on the larger green job market, these sites are more targeted”, says founder Chris Russell. “Each site focuses on a specific segment of the green industry which attracts better quality candidates for the employers who use us.”
Many of the sites offer free content such as downloadable guides to working in that industry. Russell says there are three reasons green employers should use these sites as part of their online recruitment strategy;
1. Cost: job postings on each site are just $79. Most other green sites charge much more.
2. SEO: each site is search engine friendly and appears on the first page of Google results for their respective keywords. (example: search for phrase ‘wind jobs’)
3. Exposure: jobs on each site are cross-posted to the popular job search engine SimplyHired.com for double the exposure. It’s like getting 2 sites for 1 price.
When it comes to posting jobs online, niche or industry related job boards offer a much better return on investment than the big national sites. Job seekers have been turning to these job boards in droves over the past few years and they show no signs of stopping. They are often less costly and simply deliver more of the right candidates.
• JobsinWindPower.com lists jobs such as Wind Farm Technicians, Wind Turbine Engineers and Wind Analysts. (info at jobsinwindpower.com)
• JobsinSolarPower.com lists job such as Solar Panel Installers and Solar Design Engineers. (info at jobsinsolarpower.com)
• JobsinBiofuels.com lists biofuel, ethanol and biodesisel related roles. (info at jobsinbiofuels.com)
• JobsinLEED.com lists jobs that require LEED certification, especially in green building techniques. (info at jobsinleed.com)
• JobsinSustainability.com fills positions such as Sustainability Coordinator or Director. (info at jobsinsustainability.com)
• JobsinGeothermal.com lists jobs in the rapidly growing geothermal energy field. (info at jobsingeothermal.com)…

ng and employment applications has teamed up with Payscale, a market leader in global online compensation data to provide enhanced career resources for the healthcare job search engine, JobJobHealth.com. The Payscale salary calculator delivers instant salary information to healthcare workers from keyword searches performed on the site. "The salary widget is a perfect addition to the career resources offered from our homepage”, says Hayes Milani, CEO of Career Management Source, “healthcare workers looking to develop their careers are going to need current, accurate salary figures to make informed decisions. We want them to understand the larger financial implications of a job change.” The salary calculator generates current, accurate compensation information and makes it immediately accessible to visitors using the search engine to find healthcare employment.
The medical job search engine, JobJobHealth.com encourages healthcare workers to gather information on the job market with keyword searches. Medical jobs are listed organically and updated in real time. Search results are limited by keyword, such as job title (nursing jobs, healthcare technician jobs, physician jobs) or location (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles). The addition of a salary calculator to a full service employment search engine is a natural enhancement of the site. Visitors identify and weigh the advantages of new hospital jobs or pharmacy jobs in the market by salary comparisons. "Usually, a candidate starts out looking for a higher salary or better work conditions," says Milani. “It’s helpful to have salary comparisons when evaluating personal salary goals.”
Visitors find the Payscale salary calculator in the career resource area on the JobJobHealth.com homepage. The salary widget is user friendly, providing instant salary information on a specific healthcare profession. By entering a job title, city and state into the salary calculator, a visitor to the site has immediate access to a range of salaries for a specific location. Best of all, the information is provided free of charge. "No other healthcare job search engine is so successful in its mission to provide healthcare workers with complete employment information,” says Teresa Scholten, COO of Career Management Source, “We want visitors who use our site to feel assured they made the best possible decision for their career.” To experience the salary calculator, visit www.JobJobHealth.com. For more information on our products and services, email info@careermanagementsource.com or call 888-865-8914.…

ne
It takes Recruitfest to bring the best from within and to broaden the circle of those we call friends. I met Julia at Recruitfest at a Hotel dining table across from me by chance, and it was my personal good fortune. Julia is not someone who minces words, who takes personal opinions personally, who has the self confidence and paneche to tell an unconventional story much to both our entertainment and our enrichment. The conversation was the appetizer, the entree and dessert. Julia Stone is no longer acquaintance, but friend. Julia Stone is a bang drummer in any circle and the beat to follow in the company of friends old and new.
Julia Stone prides herself in her Negotiating skills, Interviewing techniques, AIRS Certification, high Integrity and ethical standards. Ask her what her specialty is and the back to basics are her pride, she is above all … a networking specialist (people not machines!). It is on this basis, that Julia operates her own niche recruiting agency that works on contingency and engaged search. BizWerks is a professional recruiting firm whose focus is in the technology and scientific industries. We are passionate about our clients and our candidates and work hard to maintain high ethical standards in all situations.
Q&A with Julia Stone
Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.
JULIA: My husband, Brad, and I have been together since the millennium. Literally, we met on January 1st, 2000 and started our adventures together. Since that time, we took a three month road trip through the US and Canada, lived on a sailboat for a year, successfully built and sold one company, started another, and had a daugher who is now 3 named Sophia. We are thrilled to call Madison, Wisconsin our home now after many years in Seattle.
Six Degrees: Detail Hobbies, activities/interests unfamiliar to readers
JULIA:Besides our monthly poker game, I play video games and I exercise. Zumba is my favorite, but I also ride my Trek Bike in the warm months. (They do shovel the bike paths in Madison when it snows!) This year, I participated in my first bike competition, the Urban Assault Race, and was thrilled to complete it. Starting BizWerks with a toddler has left me a little less time for some of my other passions which include scuba diving, sailing, camping, reading something other than Goodnight Moon and martial arts.
Each year, my husband and I work hard to create unique holiday greeting cards. We try to make them humorous in nature.
Community service is important to me. I sit on the finance committee for the bilingual grade school Nuestro Mundo. Nuestro Mundo creates a successful and unique learning environment through the use of dual language education and democratic decision-making. I have participated in Habitat for Humanity, and sit on the Small Business Advisory Council which is an advisory council to both the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and the office of the Mayor. Carrying through to our corporate philosophy, BizWerks donates a percentage of each employees salary to the non-profit of their choice.
Six Degrees: How many years have you been a recruiter?
JULIA: I started recruiting 12 years ago in a small technical recruiting agency in Seattle.
Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?
JULIA: I sold toilet paper. I got bored with it, not very challenging if you want to know the truth. So I took a job working as a systems administrator. While technically challenging, I was bored. I was so lacking in human communication, that I took on a part time job at the local Scuba Diving shop to meet more people.
One of those people was a Director at Microsoft who helped me work through my career crisis while his fiance was getting certified. I sold him a lot of diving equipment and he got me into the best accidental career ever.
Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career?
JULIA: In 2007, I attended the first SourceCon conference and it completely changed the way I recruit. Once I listened to such industry experts as Shally Steckerl, Glenn Gutmacher, Eric Jacquith, and Danny Cahill; I realized that the industry was evolving.
Sourcing good candidates is where everything starts. If realized that if I couldn't compete in this arena, I needed to get out of the business. I have so much past experience in the field, that I have learned how to manage the recruiting process, the hiring manager's expectations, and the candidate experience.
Six Degrees: Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after?
JULIA: I don't have an individual mentor, but I am sure I could benefit from one. I take bits of information from as many leaders as I can and blend them together, a recruiting melting pot of sorts. Things are so dynamic in this industry that people who were virtually unheard of last year could be a superstar this year. I am in awe of Dave Mendoza's networking, Shally Steckerl's sourcing techniques, Jason Davis' ability to create online communities, or Donato Diorio's ability to create tools for the industry. There are a dozen more I could mention here. There is no shortage of talent in our industry.
Six Degrees: Tell us about a day in the life at the helm of Bizwerks:
JULIA: I own, BizWerks, a niche recruiting agency that works on contingency and engaged search. We primarily work with technology positions within the software life cycle up through director level positions within technology companies. BizWerks has grown to 4 employees and has expanded into scientific recruiting and supply chain.
Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why?
JULIA: I think that the recent trend toward RPO is worth watching. It will be interesting to see how it changes the dynamics of the industry.
Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry. How do you share the love?
JULIA: I have had the opportunity to speak as an individual and as a part of several round table discussions in both Seattle and Madison on the topics of finding jobs, finding candidates and upcoming trends. I am passionate about the industry, the generational differences we see now, and upcoming hiring trends.
Officially, I have managed teams who produced award winning documentation for clients including Medtronic, Microsoft, and Group Health Cooperative. In 2008, I was thrilled to be picked for InBusiness Magazine's 40 under 40 for Madison, Wisconsin. I won the SourceCon, sourcing challenge this summer and was one of three national finalists in the competition in Atlanta.
Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there?
JULIA: Right now, I am dedicated to growing our agency. This is a goal of many, but few are able to turn an individual desk into a successful agency.
RECOMMENDATIONS
“Julia has a truly unique skill; she listens. She always has the most thorough and detailed understanding of a project's requirements.She efficiently translates those requirements into tasks for her team, ensuring that the project is executed as flawlessly as possible. I hope to work with Julia again someday soon!” July 18, 2008
Thomas Schmitzer, CPIM, Master Scheduler, United Industries Inc.
“While the timing of my search and interview process with Julie was not conducive to final placement through Julia, she did all she could to work with me on an opportunity with a major national brand. Julia provided me with regular update and kept me feeling that we were in control of the process. Unfortunately for Julia, I accepted a different offer. Had I not left for the other opportunity, I am sure Julia would have continued her hard work and dedication to my placement. Thanks Julia for the dozens of updates and for your advice throughout the process.” February 23, 2008. Top qualities: Personable, On Time, High Integrity
Andy Stawski
“As a potential recruit for Julia's business, she has always been very informative, thorough and responsive. I'd highly recommend her to any business looking for a solid and experienced recruitment professional.” November 19, 2007
Michele Virnig, Assistant VP-Marketing Communications, CUNA Mutual Group
“Julia is a true professional recruiter whose passion is to match people with high-tech businesses. She is also active within community, for example, she is an active participant on Mayor's and Chamber's Small Business Advisory Council and economic development taskforce.” November 16, 2007
Joe Campana, Ph.D., CITRMS, CIPP/G, Principal, J. Campana & Associates
“If you are reading this, you are in luck. Julia is the kind of person you want on any project or team; a leader, a professional and a keen intellect.” October 4, 2007. Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity
Thomas Schmitzer, CPIM
“Julia is a fantastic to work with she is very engaging and has a lot of ideas on how to accomplish the end goals of the project in a timely manner and making sure the team is still together. I look forward to working directly with her on future business projects.” September 28, 2007
Daniel Guerra Jr., Owner, Argus Ventures, LLC
“There are too many good things to say about Julia. She is the consummate professional with great industry knowledge. She is a very good person to have on your side. We plan to continue our relationship and hope that in the near future we will be able locate the perfect job for my skill set.” September 19, 2007. Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, High Integrity
Brian Watson
“Julia, brings an ethically anchored fresh approach to IT recruitment in this world of sharks. Her experience, personal communication strengths, and optimism are critical for connecting clients with ideal effective contractor candidates.” September 14, 2007
Peter Sibilski, Network Engineer - Switch Technician, Verizon Wireless
“Julia Stone took over the Xbox.com writing team during a turbulent time in the contract, which previously seemed to change every six months (leaving many of the writing team uncertain of what the future might hold). Julia took charge immediately, smoothing out bumps in the road, personally seeing to our concerns, and keeping us on course with remarkable ease. I would work for Julia again any time the opportunity presented itself and highly recommend her for to any potential employer.” January 14, 2008
Cory Herndon, Content Writer, Xbox.com, The Write Stuff
“Julia is excellent at networking and keeping in touch with people. She never forgets a name.” October 2, 2007
Naarah Hanson (Hastings), Sr. IT Recruiter, Excell Data…

coyote rescued from a garbage pit during a snow storm) and Miss Milly Millerd (brought home from the shelter on Christmas Eve because she was marked for euthanasia due to being nutty as a fruitcake) all reside at a barn and 50 acres of pasture located 15 miles West of Amarillo. “The barn” being where I spend most of my time when not recruiting."
• RecruitingBlogs Profile
• Linkedin Profile
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• Community Volunteering: Animal Cruelty Investigator, Suicide Prevention-Crisis Intervention Hot Line. Panhandle Heritage Foundation
• Personal Causes: Humane Society, Shop with a Cop
• My favorite Sandra Post
• Phone: 806-359-0335, 806-433-5500
• Email Sandra
"I train trick horses, 5 big geldings and one sexy little black Welsh pony, all black. I take them to children’s hospitals, nursing homes and horsemen’s groups to demonstrate what a horse can do when trained with “Gentle Horsemanship Methods”
Q&A with Sandra McCartt
Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world, Sandra
Sandra: I have been divorced for so long that I can’t remember his first name. I have two children, Eugene McCartt IV age 45, CPA, CFP , Tax Director at Energy Corporation of American in Denver.
Lisa McCartt Johnston, 48, Manager at NationWide Insurance.
Two Grandaughters , Alexis and Alyssa, 26 and 21
Two Great Grandsons, Jayden and Jaxon, ages 6 and 2.
Six Degrees: Detail Hobbies, activities/interests unfamiliar to readers
Sandra: I train trick horses, 5 big geldings and one sexy little black Welsh pony, all black, known as “The Blues Brothers”. I take them to children’s hospitals, nursing homes and horsemen’s groups to demonstrate what a horse can do when trained with “Gentle Horsemanship Methods” . I rode and trained with Pat Parelli and Craig Cameron as mentors in the ways of The Horsewhispers. I am a licensed Animal Cruelty Investigator, Humane Society of the US ,qualified as an equine expert witness to testify in horse cruelty cases as the “Lawyer for the Horse”. I am a licensed equi-therapy technician and group facilitator working with a psychiatrist who treats autistic patients, bi-polars, schizophrenics as well as groups for abused children and women utilizing both horses and dogs.
I served on the City of Amarillo, Animal Control Board for 10 years. As an animal advocate I adopt rescue horses and dogs. I live happily in a townhouse with a 150 lb Great Pyrenees named Cosmo Kramer and a Standard Poodle named Cloppy La Rue.
“The Blues Brothers” and two barn dogs named Barney the Barn dog (half coyote rescued from a garbage pit during a snow storm) and Miss Milly Millerd (brought home from the shelter on Christmas Eve because she was marked for euthanasia due to being nutty as a fruitcake) all reside at a barn and 50 acres of pasture located 15 miles West of Amarillo. “The barn” being where I spend most of my time when not recruiting.
I played tournament tennis for many years earning a 9th ranked Junior player in Texas at age 12 continuing to play competitively through college. I still enjoy a set or two when time permits. I was a High School Cheerleader, editor of the annual and one of those prom queens with “big hair” of the 50’s. After High School I was a professional ramp and photographers model in Dallas before attending the University of Arizona , majoring in journalism and accounting with a philosophy minor. Upon returning to my hometown of Amarillo, Texas, I joined Bass Broadcasting/KFDA television as the “Santa Claus Girl” for the Christmas sales promotion.
I was offered a position as sales assistant/copywriter and did a noon half hour show women’s show three days a week. When station management discovered that I was an accountant I was promoted to Business Manager. The only office in the station with a window which was the deciding factor to give up being an “on air” personality.
After leaving “show business” to marry and have children I returned to school at West Texas A & M to complete my requirements for a degree in Animal Science-Equine Option. I showed horses in AQHA competition in Western Pleasure, English Pleasure, Hunter jumper and dressage, qualifying a horse for the AQHA World Finals.
I have served on the Boards of Big Brothers-Big Sisters, Panhandle Heritage Foundation, The outdoor drama “Texas” where I did the pre show horse demonstrations and trained the riding team for the play produced in Palo Duro Canyon Amphitheatre each summer. As the grand daughter of early pioneers who homesteaded in the Northern Texas panhandle in 1900, I am active in many historical preservation groups concerning the early ranches of Texas.
I was one of the founding members of the Amarillo Art Museum under the curatorship of Amarillo Junior College. I was a founding member and active crisis line counselor and volunteer for Amarillo Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention. I was selected by Region 16 Texas Education Agency to be a member of the task force who were trained to teach teachers how to teach drug education. As a founding member of “Kiros House” I was an on site volunteer for intake of drug overdose cases and abused women and children. I was a group facilitator/team leader with the “You” seminars established by Dr. Phil before he became “Dr. Phil” and started to talk with that hokey accent.
Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry?
Sandra: I have been in the recruiting business for 32 years.
Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?
Sandra: In 1975 I walked into an employment agency with one thing in mind. No more accounting. After an hour of answering questions about how I would be able to pay the employment fee. The “consultant” asked me what I really wanted to do ? I told her that I would really like to have her job because I felt that I would never spend an hour talking about the fee before I asked someone what they wanted to do. The “consultant” laughed and said, “Don’t move I am going to go talk to my boss, I hate this job.” I have only been here three weeks, I came in here looking for an accounting job and they talked me into working the accounting desk.” An hour later the agency owner asked me a few questions about my background then asked me if I really liked people. I said, “No not really but I am trained to handle people in crisis and I think a job change or a career change is a life crisis. The next day I was behind the desk and my “consultant” was going on interviews for an accounting job. I broke all production records with the agency without knowing it the first year I was there. I talked an employer into the first “fee paid by employer” deal by offering a 90 day replacement guarantee without my employers approval. It almost got me fired because any guarantee at that time was unheard of , but it worked.
In 1978 I decided that there had to be a better way to do this business than charging people to find them a job and collecting fees at 15.00 a week. I offered to buy the agency I worked for. The owner refused to sell so I resigned, rented an office , put in phones, hired six recruiters and started Professional Search, Inc. International. Specializing in the Oil and Gas industry, Public accounting and Agribusiness the firm did well until the Oil and Gas crash of the late 80’s. When the bottom dropped out in 1991 I laid off the team, put office furniture in storage and officed from home, working as a generalist until 2000 when another experienced recruiter and I opened an office and a partnership. Discovering 8 months into the partnership that my experienced partner was paying kick backs to a few HR managers, I dissolved the partnership and moved to my current location.
Professional Search, Inc Int’l is a generalist 1120C corporation with clients throughout the United States and represents foreign companies with investments in the US. Working with four independent contract recruiters and splits partners, I currently work in the healthcare, biotech, legal, agribusiness, supply chain, oil and gas, public and private accounting , engineering and IT verticals. After 32 years in the third party recruiting industry, my business model is a different and unusual breed of cat. My associates and I represent 30 to 40 companies in different industries who utilize our services in all areas of the company. One month may be the accounting department or IT, the next a doctor or a PA. It evolved that way with relationships developed over 32 years and it works. It’s never dull; we learn something new every week and work with people from very different professions and industries.
Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career?
Sandra: The first fee paid placement. The fax machine and the computer. After this long there has to be more than one.
Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after?
Sandra: No, I was self trained, self motivated. I had a great deal of support from professional people I worked for who taught me as we went what they wanted and what was important in their industry.
Six Degrees: Tell us about your staffing firm
Sandra: As president , in addition to handling a full recruiting desk and being the “face person” for the firm, I handle all the accounting, financial ,administrative and advertising responsibilities. We are a small corporation with four independent contract recruiters. We utilize four sourcers that we refer to as the four witches..
Six Degrees: (A) What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples?
Sandra: We work with selected independent recruiters that we know and trust. Our idea of best practice examples are honest , experienced recruiters who have their ego in order, are not pushy and know how to work hard. Treat clients as a valued customer even if they are difficult, know how to work with and handle people in crisis and have fun making money.
(B) In what aspects are they superior?
Sandra: Character and integrity.
Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why?
Sandra: We were prepared for the recession so we have done well this year as we come out of it we are positioned strongly because we are not “beat up” from trying to survive.
Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry:
Sandra: I do a lot of public speaking to industry groups and to college students. Panhandle Chapter of CPA’s, Junior Bar Association , Accounting Club at WTAMU. Due to the size of my “animal” family I do not travel unless it is to visit a client. conferences are not my cup of tea
Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche?
Sandra: We saw it coming. After going through the big crash of the late 80’s early 90’s and almost watching myself disappear. When we were making a lot of money we put ourselves in a position for each of us to be able to pay all personal expenses and office expenses for a year. Without the pressure of fighting to survive financially and moving fast and hard into the healthcare vertical we have had a good year. It has not been the best we ever had but good enough that we didn’t have to dip into the emergency fund.
Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities. Are there specific groups, both online and in-person that have proved fruitful in extending your personal brand and job seeking prospects?
Sandra: In November when things were pretty slow I discovered RBC. It’s been fun, wild and interesting. I have developed several excellent split partners and some of the greatest online friends that I hope to meet personally some day.
Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do?
Sandra: Don’t get scattered all over the place. Focus on groups where you have something to offer or something to learn. Do not be like a realtor or an insurance sales person who shows up every time somebody serves drinks or cocktail weenies. Make yourself count. Online find a spot like RBC where you fit and relate. Don’t scatter your silly self all over the net and spend your days in a time suck of going from one site to the next.
Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there?
Sandra: To keep on doing what I love to do until I fall over in front of the computer. Get some sleep. I am a night person who works until 2 or 3 in the morning. I have no pulse until 9:00 AM then it’s go time. My personal philosophy is that I am the most ridiculous person I know. The world is funny no matter what happens. God has a sense of humor and so do I.…

most recognizable brands on the planet. Unfortunately it’s also one that doesn’t leverage their great consumer brand in their employment brand. I’m talking about Disney.
Let me give you some context here. I live in Orange, California – just a stone’s throw away from Anaheim – or about 5 miles as Tinkerbell flies from the Happiest Place on Earth. I enjoy the Fireworks Spectacular every night from my back yard. For the third Christmas in a row, my family received season passes to Disneyland. Honestly, I’m a Mickey fan. My friends warned me, “Don’t dis the Mouse! It’s practically un-American!” But hey, I just can’t help it! Mickey and friends are just not living up to the Disney standard when it comes to their recruitment efforts.
The landing page for the Disney career site is flat. You can’t click on another page of their website without videos and music. So naturally you’d think with all the splash, boom, bang, technology and magic that they’d have a page that would be so memorable you’d get lost in the wonderment. (I mean for crying out loud - Fortune Named Disney the World's Most Admired Entertainment Company – you’d think there would be some excitement!) Not here. There are four - count them, four - still pictures that rotate on the screen. The pictures are:
The Disney plaque being polished
An artist sculpting characters
The ESPN bullpen (nice diversity touch here)
A shot of Main Street in Disneyland with more people than Times Square on New Year’s Eve (maybe this is so prospective applicants can understand the absolute mayhem and madness of a summer day in the park!)
Their welcome is promising. They talk about imagination, childhood dreams, magic, wonder, culture, laughter, astonishment, joy, thrills. There’s room for talented people. It’s a dream job. Magic - REALLY?! How would I know that? Maybe from the picture of the plaque polisher or mental Main Street? It sure doesn’t look that way so far. But let’s dig deeper.
They mention their culture in their welcome but try and find out anything about it in the career section and you’re lost. They list six values (innovation, quality, community, storytelling, optimism and decency) that “make our brands stand out”. I guess those can loosely correlate to the employee experience. There’s not a lot of depth here. I really expected more from the “Life at Disney” section.
Disney is doing some things right. The “search jobs” function passes my “three clicks and you’re out” rule. This is a huge plus because it makes the process easy for the applicants. I was able to search all jobs in Anaheim in two clicks. Once there, you notice a lot of intern positions. What does this tell me? A couple things. One - the Mouse is cheap, looking for cheap labor from college grads so they can have a big name company on the top of their resume. The second thing it tells me is that Disney has smart approach to filling vacancies and filling the talent pool of the future – get ‘em when they’re young and train them well. The job descriptions are simple, nothing too exciting or memorable with the exception of a lot of corporate acronyms that meant nothing to me.
Disney’s best and most well hidden section of the career site is the link to Disney Auditions. For all you character wannabes, this is the place to look for open casting calls so you can don a Goofy suit and walk around the park in 100 degree weather in August (remember the Main Street picture from the career landing page?) Sounds like a dream job, don’t it?
The word for the audition site is again – flat. But it does give some good tips on what to expect and how to prepare for an audition. The real gem about this page? Videos - finally! Well thank my Fairy Godmother! There are videos from actual employees, like Jamie, who invites you to click her video and watch what she has to say about her Disney experience. Well that’s great – if you’ve already got Quicktime player downloaded on your computer. If not, you’ll feel like Alice going down the rabbit hole while you wait for the installing and restarting (that’s if you decide that watching the video is even worth it at this point). There are lots of employee videos – and that’s great if you want to play Goofy or parade down Main Street. These videos are exclusively for preparing to audition. Unless you’re an actor, you don’t get to see or hear what it’s really like.
The functionality of the videos are not just a Disney flaw; it’s one we see time and time again on corporate career sites. Companies pay a lot of money to have video shot of real employees only to have the video fail to play on the site. This brings up the question of who monitors your career site? There are many schools of thought here:
· Marketing should own it. Why? It’s a PR /communication tool and that falls under Marketing.
· IT should own it. Why? IT owns everything that has to do with the website so it should be monitored and quality control checked by them.
· HR should own it. Why? It’s the career site and they’re in charge of recruiting.
Not an easy question to answer or responsibility to assign, but someone, a human person (not Cinderella’s animal friends) should own the functionality of the career site. They should visit the site daily, apply for a job, play the videos and ensure all the working parts are indeed working! This same thought process also applies to the sites that invite you to “send us an email with your questions”. Who’s answering these questions? How often, how quickly and in whose voice is the answer in?
Back to the site…the audition page does a good job of pointing out that not everyone can be a character, singer or actor at Disney, so they list off all the other opportunities for you to become an entertainment cast member. Two thumbs up for the cult-like approach to calling all employees “cast members” and making it sound like one big, happy family in one huge global conglomerate. The truth is, Disney has all types of positions – they even need experts in pyrotechnics. Disney is a recognized pyrotechnic industry leader and the world's largest producer of fireworks shows. It takes a large team of highly trained and certified pyro-technicians to execute our many unique shows around the world. Trust me, Disney’s fireworks are cool. Disneyland is cool. Even dressing up like Goofy is cool. But Disney’s career site is not cool. I have to give the Disney and the Mouse a “D” on their career site – “D” for disappointing.
…